NIWOT >> Not 15 minutes after taking match point, hotel arrangements were already being made to send Centaurus junior Lucy Piccolini to the individual girls tennis state tournament in Pueblo.

Piccolini earned the right Wednesday by beating Longmont’s Jill Updegraff, 7-6, 6-3, in the Class 4A Region 5 tournament, giving the Warriors a No. 1 singles representative in next week’s state meet. Now in her third year as Centaurus’ top singles player, Piccolini will compete for an individual state title for the first time in her career.

“It’s good that I could finally do it because the last two years were hard,” Piccolini said.

Piccolini’s state hopes were dashed in regionals each of the past two years, and Wednesday’s match against Updegraff required an early comeback to avoid the same fate. After falling behind 5-2 in the first set, she rallied to secure the tiebreaker, match and a trip to southern Colorado.

“I just turned it around,” Piccolini said. “I created tactics and methods for playing the girl. Her serve was really good.”

The No. 2 singles finals match went to Longmont junior Sylvie Wilcox, who defeated Monarch freshman Sophia Ludke, 6-2, 6-1. Wilcox is headed to her second individual state tournament.

“For me, state is a chance to have fun,” said Wilcox, who qualified at No. 3 singles last year. “There’s a lot of really good teams there, so I don’t expect too much out of how I place, but it would be really good to place.”

At No. 3 singles, Niwot junior Emory Rich beat Longmont junior Reese Wieder (6-0, 6-1) to clinch her second state tournament bid and her first as a singles player. Rich reached the No. 3 doubles individual quarterfinals last year. Consistency and well-placed serves were key for Rich, she said.

All four of the doubles brackets were won by Niwot pairs, including the No. 1 doubles duo of Nina Richards and Jordan Rutkowski (6-3, 6-0 over Standley Lake).

“We have a good combo of she’s super aggressive and I’m super consistent,” Rutowski said. “When there’s a ball near the net, her job is just to put it down and she’s an angle. My (role) is to run around the back and send it wherever I can.”

Isabelle DiCorleto and Janie Holmes grabbed the No. 2 doubles title over Standley Lake (6-1, 6-0); Georgia Jaffe and Mirabelle Richtel beat Longmont’s Lilli Chrimes and Brielle Wach at No. 3 doubles (7-6, 6-0); and Amy Calderon and Hazel Awsumb knocked off Monarch’s Amy Romer and Tyler Gudeman at No. 4 doubles.

The 4A individual girls tennis state tournament is set for May 7-9 at Pueblo City Park.

“I’m super excited to make it up to Pueblo because it’s such a special time for team bonding and just hanging out and playing tennis,” Rutkowski said. “It’s always such a fun, special time, and it’s a great way to end my senior season. I love all my teammates, so it’ll be fun.”

For a complete list of local qualfiers from the regional, head online to BoCoPreps.com.